


Let’s Swim Away

by CeceTA



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: (It’s a pun), Arranged Marriage, F/F, Falling In Love, LGBT+, Princess Kagami, Royalty AU, Soulmate AU, mermaid au, prince Adrien, secret garden, ’swimming’ away from home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-02 05:02:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20270419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeceTA/pseuds/CeceTA
Summary: Unhappy about a sudden arranged marriage, Princess Kagami swims away from home and stumbles upon a hidden garden and a fellow mermaid.





	Let’s Swim Away

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This fic is for a friend of mine who commissioned me a few weeks ago. I forgot to post it here until now

“Princess!”

Kagami ignored the shouts of the townspeople around her as she hurriedly swam away, the bright red colouring of her tail’s scales glowing in the light of the water. She couldn’t stop—not yet. The guards would find her too quickly and she’d be sent straight back to her room.

She gritted her teeth as she ducked and weaved through the crowd of merfolk, continuing to ignore them as they tried to catch her attention. Some reached out to try and grab her arm, but a quick thrash of her tail pushed them away with ease. 

“Marriage,” she bitterly mumbled as she finally broke free from the crowd, speeding up the pace of her swimming in order to put as much distance as possible between her and the palace. “Why must arranged marriages exist?!”

As she glanced behind her, a memory from earlier that morning flashed in her mind. When Kagami had been called to the throne room, she really hadn’t been expected the news her mother, Queen Tomoe, gave her. 

——

_“Marriage?” The Princess questioned, panic instilling within. Her expression remained calm, but internally her emotions ran haywire._

_“Yes, Kagami,” her mother responded, looking as powerful as ever from her place on her throne made of coral. “You will be wed to Prince Adrien of the Agreste kingdom in three months time.”_

——

The mere thought of being married to that blond pretty boy made her blood boil. It’s not that she had anything against Prince Adrien—he seemed like a decent merman—but she couldn’t see herself spending the rest of her life with him. 

Their love would be fake, and everyone throughout the four kingdoms would be able to tell.

You see, when a mermaid or merman falls in love, colours blossom on their tails. Her mother and father each had elegant patterns running down the length of theirs, but Kagami’s was still plain red. She still hadn’t met the one, and she doubted that Adrien would be the merman to change that—no other merman had ever caught her interest.

Noticing that she’d reached a deserted area, Kagami slowed down and took in her surroundings. Rocks, corals, plants and a myriad of species of fish surrounded her, all of them combining together to create an underwater garden that (in Kagami’s opinion) was the quintessence of beauty.

A smile blossomed on her lips as her gaze moved from area to area, each part of the pultrichudionous creation of nature as pretty as the last. She’d never seen this place before, so she must have swam quite far. 

As her gaze continued to wander, she spotted something shining in the distance. Her brows furrowed as she swam over to it, trying to figure out what it could possibly be. 

She gasped when she reached it, spotting an object reflecting a light. The rock wall surrounding this area of the garden had a small hole in it and an open clam containing a pearl resting within. Kagami carefully grabbed the pearl to examine it, surprised to see another area hidden behind the gap. 

Swimming upwards, Kagami noticed that a layer of rock connected to the wall, concealing the area she saw through the hole. 

“But how—“ she cut her question off, her brows furrowing in annoyance. 

The black-haired mermaid swam back down, confused as to how she was supposed to get in. Frustration started to build within—she was renowned for being intelligent, so why couldn’t she figure this out?!

Just as she was ready to give up and keep exploring elsewhere, a section in the wall began to push forward, surprising the Princess and causing her to swim back a little. She watched on, bewilderment and intrigue sparkling in her chocolate gaze, as the wall began to move to the side, creating a pathway through to the other side. 

“Well, this is interesting,” she mumbled, deciding whether or not to swim through. There seemed to be some sort of tunnel—the location of the other end of it unknown to Kagami. 

Glancing around, the Princess noticed that nobody else was in the garden. That meant there was nobody there to report where she’d disappeared to to the palace guards!

With a quick flick of her tail, Kagami swan through the gap and into the dimly-lit tunnel, heading for the small crack of light at the other side. 

What she wasn’t expecting was to swim into someone—literally. 

As the two mermaids collided, the unfamiliar girl let out a shriek, her eyes widening when she spotted the tiara resting upon Kagami’s head. In the midst of her panic, she glanced around before grabbing the Princess’ arm and pulling her further through the tunnel. 

“Hey!” Kagami shouted, feeling a mix of anxiety and bewilderment. 

When they reached the other side, the blue-eyed mermaid let go before moving over to the rock wall. All of a sudden, the exit to the tunnel to closed off. 

Kagami glanced around her, noticing that they were in some sort of grotto that held many treasures. 

“How did you find this place?!” The girl questioned, running her hand through her hair. “Nobody has ever found my secret spot before. I was sure that nobody would figure out the location of this place—the tunnel doesn’t even open until—“

Kagami stopped the girl’s rambling by loudly clearing her throat, catching her attention. “I didn’t mean to discover this place. If you couldn’t tell by the tiara,” she paused, pointing to said item. “I’m the Princess. I swam away from home and ended up here. The only reason I found the tunnel is that I was there when the rock wall moved.”

“You swam away from home?”

Kagami nodded, slightly bothered by the question. Hadn’t she already answered it? “I just found out I’m in an arranged marriage to Prince Adrien.”

“Arranged marriage?” The other mermaid questioned, her expression turning melancholy. “That sounds terrible!”

“That’s just the way things are. I have to accept it.” Kagami responded, shrugging it off and keeping her expression blank. 

After a few beats of silence, the blue-eyed mermaid held her hand out for Kagami to shake. “My name is Marinette. Feel free to escape here anytime you like. It’ll be our secret.”

“Oh,” Kagami breathed, shaking the girl’s hand as her lips curled into a grateful smile and her heartbeat quickened. “Thank you. One problem—I don’t know how to get in.”

“Oh, of course!” Marinette’s explained, slapping the palm of her hand to her forehead. “I’m so scatterbrained. How could I forget?”

Kagami’s eyebrow quirked in amusement as she watched the girl mumble to herself and swim back over to the rock wall. 

“You see this clam here?” She questioned, pointing to it. “If you lift it up, there’s a section of rock underneath that you push down that opens the tunnel. The section above closes it.”

Kagami nodded, taking the information in. “Thank you.”

Marinette only smiled in return before opening the ‘door’ to the tunnel. 

——

Over the next few weeks, Kagami often disappeared to the secret garden to meet her new friend, Marinette. 

Thankfully, the palace guards never seemed to catch her. It made Kagami a little worried about the safety of the kingdom, but she was joyful if it meant getting to see Marinette. The blue-eyed mermaid seemed to be all she ever thought about these days.

As the weeks flashed by, the two mermaids became more comfortable with each other to the point where hugs and other small forms of contact were commonplace. Kagami has never felt so close to another mermaid before—especially one she hadn’t known for very long. 

Marinette—she discovered—was a great listener. Kagami found herself able to open up more the longer they knew each other to the point where she began to vent about the upcoming wedding. 

“The Prince doesn’t want to go through with it. He mentioned something about being in love with a Princess from a neighbouring county. The patterns on his tail prove it.”

“Is there anything you can do to stop it?” Marinette questioned, her hands gripping the edge of the ledge they were sat on. Hope shone in her bluebell eyes.

Kagami shook her head. “Unfortunately not. The only way to get out of it is to disappear altogether.”

An air of silence hung around them, Kagami turned her head to the right to glance at Marinette, butterflies fluttering in her stomach when she noticed just how close they were sat together. 

When Marinette turned her head too and smiled sweetly, heat pooled into Kagami’s cheeks at the close proximity. There was only about an inch between them.

As they gazed into each other’s eyes, somewhat mesmerised, a bright glow suddenly filled the room. Both mermaids snapped out of their dazes, gasping when they saw the glow emanating from their tails.

“What’s happening?” Marinette questioned as they covered their eyes, shielding them from the bright light.

As the glow faded, it all clicked in Kagami’s mind. If it was what she thought it was, then that explained the butterflies in her stomach.

Kagami head a loud gasp escape Marinette’s lips, followed by a small shriek. The Princess still hadn’t moved her hands away from her eyes, though—still in denial about the situation. 

“Kagami, look!” Marinette exclaimed. “I’ve got black spots on my tail now!”

That further confirmed her thoughts. 

Noticing Kagami’s lack of response, Marinette noticed that she was still shielding her eyes. “Are you okay? Why are you hesitating?” She questioned, concern flashing in her eyes as she placed a comforting hand on the brown-eyed mermaid’s shoulder.

Marinette’s second question hit Kagami like a bullet. Her mother had always drilled it into her to never hesitate, so why was she doing that now?

Letting out a shaky breath, the Princess finally moved her hands and glanced down, eyes widening when she spotted the black-and-gold stripes spiralling down her red tail. 

“Spots and stripes.” Marinette giggled, pointing at the two tails.

“I didn’t think it was possible for two girls to be in love,” Kagami admitted, gazing at her tail in wonder. They met gazes for a brief second before looking away, shy about their feelings for one another. “That’s what my parents always made me believe, at least.”

Well, I think we just disproved them.” Marinette giggled as she traced a hand along the outline of one of the many black spots now decorating her tail.

After a few moments of silence, Marinette met Kagami’s gaze, anxiety showing in her expression. “What about the wedding?”

“What about it? I obviously don’t love Adrien, and he doesn’t love me. Like I said earlier, there’s always the option of disappearing entirely.”

“But your parents—“

“Screw them,” Kagami bitterly declared with a huff. The arisal of her feelings and the time spent with Marinette over the past two months had enlightened her. She wasn’t going to be forced into anything anymore—especially now that she knew of her true feelings. 

“I’m not the only royal child they have, and I’m not going to be their pawn if they plan to hold me back from the one I love.”

A smile broke out onto Marinette’s lips at those words, her heart beating rapidly at the implications. 

“Let’s swim away together—just you and me,” she proposed, taking hold of Kagami’s hand in her own. “We can move to a neighbouring kingdom where we can be happy together. If your parents come looking for you, I guess we’ll have to explain. There’s no way they’re going to separate us now, though.”

Kagami smiled, nodding her head in silent approval. “Let’s do it.”


End file.
